F 152 
.D18 
Copy 1 



^be Colonial ©amee 

of Hnicrlca 

Vn tbe State of <S)bio 




K^enns^lvania 



StuWce In tbe Colonial lpcrlo& for use 
In tbe public Scboole 



Colonial 
Pennsylvania 




By 

Julia E. Hickok 

OF Marietta, Ohio 



•■ H Is 



Copyright, 1921 
The Ebbert & Richardson Co. 



MAR 22 192! 
0)C!.A611386 



Introduction 



THIS study of Colonial Pennsylvania is the sixth in the 
series of monographs which the Colonial Dames of 
America in the State of Ohio have undertaken to have written 
and printed for the use of the public schools in the teaching of 
colonial history. The others in the order of publication are: 
Virginia, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York and 
Connecticut. 

These colonial studies represent a distinct and valuable 
contribution to the material needed for teaching that impor- 
tant period of American History — the period extending from 
the settlement of the individual colony to its incorporation 
as a part of the American Republic. Each monograph 
attempts to set forth in a clear and simple manner the essen- 
tial characteristics of the colony, the peculiar ideas and ideals 
of its people; and especially to make clear the part the colony 
played in the conflict with the "mother country" and its 
contribution toward the development of a national spirit, 
and a national government. When the state was born the 
colony ceased to exist, but the period preceding the framing 
and adoption of the Constitution is of tremendous impor- 
tance. Without an understanding of the forces that were at 
work in that period, and of the reasons for these manifesta- 
tions, we fail to clearly interpret the meaning of American 
history. For that reason the schools are under deep obliga- 
tion to the Colonial Dames in the State of Ohio for the large 
service which they have undertaken in behalf of education 
in the preparation and publication of these monographs. 

The story of Pennsylvania, the Keystone Colony, is one 
of deep interest and its study of great value. William Penn 
and the Indians; his treaty with the Indians which Voltaire 
characterizes as "the only covenant between savages and 
Christians that was never sworn to and that was never 
broken;" Penn's Constitution or "Frame" for the colony, 
guaranteeing freedom of worship, and clearly setting forth 



the principles "that government exists for the sake of the 
people, and not people for the sake of the government;" 
Philadelphia, the home of Benjamin Franklin, of Indepen- 
dence Hall, and the Liberty Bell; the meeting place of the 
Continental Congresses, and where the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence was signed, and the national Constitution written. 
Such a colony needs to be carefully studied by all who 
would understand America. The story is well told in the 
following pages. 

RANDALL J. CONDON, 

Superintendent of Schools. 

Cincinnati, Ohio, 

January, Nineteen twenty-one. 



Colonial Pennsylvania 



PENNSYLVANIA is known as the Keystone State, because, 
being seventh in geographical order, it stood in half-way- 
position among the original thirteen colonies. Central in the 
great arch of our republic, midway between the democracy of 
New England and the aristocracy of the South, combining 
qualities of both, binding and supporting, yet separating, this 
member of our commonwealth well deserves its nickname. 

As a colony it was next to the youngest, dating its settle- 
ment from 1682, the year of William Penn's arrival and the 
founding of Philadelphia. Virginia and Massachusetts 
preceded Pennsylvania in the family of colonies by more 
than half a century; while Georgia, the youngest, came into 
being half a century later. 

Yet, it must not be inferred that this fair land along the 
Delaware river was unknown and untenanted before 1682. 
Indians, calling themselves Lenni-Lenape, or "original 
people," inhabited the forests and lived on the abundance 
of game and fish. Other tribes, invaders from the west, the 
Allegeni, gave their name to western rivers and mountains. 
There were also subordinate tribes, the Nanticokes, Susque- 
hannas and Shawnees, exploring the wilderness, making 
settlements and frequently warring with each other. 

The territory, including what is now New Jersey, was 
early known to Europeans, as well. 

In 1609, Henry Hudson visited the Delaware, and on the 
ground of his discovery the Dutch claimed possession of bay 
and river, though for nearly twenty years no settlers arrived. 
The great bay was called by the Indians, Poutaxat, while the 
river bore the title Lenape Wihittuck— "the rapid stream of 
the Lenape." The name Delaware was given by Sir Thomas 
West, English Lord Delaware, when, in 1610, he touched 
there on his way to Virginia — or possibly by his followers in 
honor of his memory, when he died in the same locality on 
his return voyage, eight years later. 

5 



In 1614, the States General of Holland granted a charter 
giving exclusive privileges of trade to those undertaking the 
first four voyages of discovery. 

Captain Cornells Hendrickson, in 1616, first explored to 
the mouth of the Schuylkill, whose Dutch name means 
"hidden channel." 

In 1621, the Dutch West India Company was incor- 
porated and sent Captain Kornelis Jacobus May (or Mey) 
on a voyage of exploration. His ship "New Netherland," 
passing the capes, one of which retains his name, advanced 
as far as Gloucester Point. He planted a village there and 
built Fort Nassau. This, however, was merely a military 
post, occupied by soldiers and servants of the West India 
Company to promote trade with the Indians. The date of 
founding Fort Nassau, 1623, marks the beginning of Dutch 
rule in the territory, and the supremacy of Holland lasted 
undisturbed for fifteen years. 

Meantime, Sweden had also cast envious eyes upon this 
part of the new world and, in 1638, Peter Minuit, under 
patronage of Queen Christina, arrived with some fifty 
settlers. Purchasing land from the Indians, he built the 
fort and town of Christina, agreed by historians to have been 
the first permanent settlement. The Dutch were conquered 
and the next seventeen years of Swedish rule saw many 
quarrels, much hatred and jealousy, between the two 
nationalities. Swedish colonization was slow but trade was 
brisk. Each party bought more land from the Indians. 
Governor Printz, arriving from Sweden in 1642, was at least 
a heavy champion, as he is said to have weighed four hundred 
pounds. He founded Fort Gottenberg, on the island of 
Tinicum, and Fort Elsinborg on Salem Creek, closing that 
stream to the Dutch, and compelling all passing ships to 
lower colors and permit boarding by the Swedes. This Fort 
Elsinborg on Salem Creek was later nicknamed Mygenborg 
or Mosquito Fort, for it is said that the Swedes were forced 
to vacate it on account of mosquitoes. 

By 1648, tradition says that there were only six Dutch 
settlers left on the river to about eighty or ninety Swedes. 
But in 1655, Governor Peter Stuyvesant, with five ships 

6 



besieged Fort Christina which surrendered in fourteen days. 
"Articles of capitulation were signed and the Swedes were 
allowed to leave with flying colors,"— were even offered free 
passage to Sweden, with all their private property. Thus 
ended the Swedish colony in Pennsylvania, though they still 
occupied the whole of Delaware. These neighboring colonies 
have, however, overlapping histories. "Throughout the 
whole colonial period," says Fiske, "Delaware and Pennsyl- 
vania, though distinct provinces with separate legislative 
assemblies, continued under the same proprietary govern- 
ment, and the history of the little community was to a con- 
siderable extent merged in that of the great one. 

England, however, ignored Dutch claims to the new 
world. In 1664, King Charles II granted a patent to his 
brother, the Duke of York, including all lands held by 
Holland. A force was sent to take possession and the Dutch, 
in their turn, surrendered to numbers. Not all the settlers 
departed, for we read that, ten years later, there were, along 
the Delaware, some three thousand Dutch and Swedish 
inhabitants. Also, a new element was coming in. In 1675, 
John Fenwick, a Quaker, who had purchased a share in the 
province of New Jersey, came to the Delaware with a party 
of colonists and, landing near the site of Elsinborg, laid out a 
town called Salem. Governor Andros, angry at this inva- 
sion, summoned Fenwick to appear before him and show 
right or reason for assuming ownership in the Duke of York's 
dominions. The stubborn Quaker, failing to respond, was 
arrested, thrown into prison and detained until boundary 
lines of East and West Jersey were settled between proprie- 
tors in England. Two years later, in 1677, other colonists 
bound for West Jersey, proved more tractable and agreed to 
hold their estate subject to New York. 

But, more than any other colony, Pennsylvania owes the 
interest of its early history to the man by whom it was 
permanently founded and for whom it was named, William 
Penn. On October 15, 1644, in lodgings near the Tower 
of London, this child came into a troubled world. The civil 
war in England, between King and Parliament, had been 
raging for two yeai-s. The baby's father. Admiral Sir 

7 



William Penn, was away at sea in command of Cromwell's 
fleet. His mother soon took her little son to the quiet town 
of Wanstead where, and in the neighboring Chigwell, he 
grew up and was educated. He was but five years old when 
King Charles I was beheaded and the party of Parliament 
obtained full control of the kingdom. Although secretly 
the Penns had always been royalists, the Admiral's position 
with Cromwell was secure and the family was safe. The boy 
went to school, studying Latin, Greek, and mathematics, 
and absorbing, beside, much of the Puritanism of the 
neighborhood. When he was twelve, his father, coming back 
from Jamaica, was arrested and thrown into the Tower on 
charge of returning without leave. This was probably only a 
pretended reason, the real fault being his discovered dealings 
with the late King and the exiled Crown Prince. 

Mrs. Penn and young William, therefore, moved back to 
their old London lodgings, in order to be near the husband 
and father. His imprisonment was ended by submission to 
the Lord Protector and surrender of the naval commission. 
He was given an estate in Ireland and again left his family 
to live in that country and to plot for the return of Prince 
Charles. When the Restoration was fully planned, Admiral 
Penn was chosen as one of the messengers to carry the glad 
news to the Prince hiding in Holland. Now high in favor 
with the royal party, he was knighted, given more valuable 
estates, and restored to the Admiralty. 

Meantime, William Penn, at sixteen years of age, was 
sent to Oxford for education at Christ Church college. 
Here, his leanings toward Puritan beliefs were strengthened 
and altered into Quakerism. The Quakers went beyond the 
Puritans in their revolt against established customs both in 
religion and in government. Denying all authority except 
the Bible and the "inner spiritual light," and believing war 
to be wrong, they refused to fight for King or country. 
Following the Scripture injunction, "Swear not at all," they 
would neither swear in courts of justice, nor take oath of 
allegiance to their sovereign. "Hat honor," or removal of 
their head-covering before royalty or magistrates, was 
stubbornly refused, and the refusal often landed the Quakers 

8 



in jail. Since they would neither give up their meetings 
when ordered to do so, nor yet hold them in secret, scorning 
to hide from their persecutors, they were driven from place 
to place, thrown into prison by the score, tortured, mutilated, 
and put to death, with a bitterness of hatred shown to almost 
no other sect. Yet their simple earnestness and the purity 
of their faith captivated young William Penn. His conver- 
sion to Quakerism dates from the days at Oxford, and his 
expression of the new faith became so troublesome that 
after two years he was expelled. Admiral Penn was bitterly 
disappointed in his son, and, according to William's own 
statement, received him with "whipping, beating, and turn- 
ing out of doors, in 1662." Later his father tried sending 
him to Paris, hoping that the gay life of the capital might 
turn young William's mind from religious to worldly affairs. 
But in spite of the fine clothes, the good company, and the 
polite manners, which helped to make William Penn a 
cavalier as well as a Quaker, he remained true to his belief, 
became a preacher among his people, and was several times 
imprisoned for his faith. At twenty-four, he had become a 
recognized leader and was known as "The Great Quaker." 
He wrote many pamphlets in defense of his doctrines, beside 
his book, "No Cross, No Crown," entitling him to rank 
among authors. Much of his writing, like Bunyan's, was 
done in prison. But in spite of hardships, trials, and perse- 
cutions enough to distinguish a martyr, Penn kept the favor 
of his royal masters. King Charles II and King James II. 
They were much indebted to Admiral Penn, and mindful of 
his request to consider his son. The Great Quaker became a 
rich and influential person at court. 

Charles II was always in need of money and borrowed it 
right and left. Not only was Admiral Penn's naval salary 
in arrears but the King was in his debt for loans, amounting 
to sixteen or eighteen thousand pounds. The Admiral died 
and his son inherited the debt. In 1680, therefore, William 
Penn conceived the idea of asking in payment a tract of 
land in America, as a refuge for his distressed and persecuted 
people. It was the territory lying north of Maryland, 
bounded on the east by the Delaware river, on the west by 

9 



Maryland, and northward "to extend as far as plantable." 
Now, since the King would never part with sixteen thousand 
pounds in money, this appeared a very good bargain. The 
wilderness of the new world was of small value and limitless 
in extent, a troublesome debtor and thousands of complaining 
Quakers could be disposed of by a few strokes of the quill. 
It was, therefore, agreeable to grant the petition and give to 
the claimant part of what had already been conferred upon 
the King's brother, the Duke of York. There was, naturally, 
considerable dispute over boundaries when the petition came 
before the King's Privy Council, and, for many years, con- 
troversy and border-warfare raged in the new colony over 
these questions. But, for the time, boundaries were settled 
to the satisfaction of all concerned, with the result that the 
largest tract of land ever given to a single individual, forty 
thousand square miles of fertile territory, abounding in coal, 
iron and oil, was turned over to William Penn. 

This, too, was the only royal grant in America which was 
bought with money; for, in other instances, agreement to 
stake life and fortune on the great adventure was deemed 
sufficient compensation. Penn, however, accepted his grant 
in full payment of a debt which, in that day, was a consider- 
able sum. 

The Charter was signed on the fourth of March, 1681, 
and Penn became "lord of a domain larger than Ireland and 
lacking only about six thousand square miles of being as 
large as England." The territory was named by the King 
himself, as we read in Penn's own account: "This day, my 
country was confirmed to me under the great seal of England, 
with large powers and privileges, by the name of Pennsyl- 
vania, a name that the King would give it in honor of my 
father." The incident is given by an old writer, as follows: 
"Penn had intended to call his province New Wales, because 
he had heard there were, in its western part, hills and moun- 
tains. Charles II for some reason objecting, a change was 
made to Sylvania or 'Woodland.' The King then prefixed 
the name Penn, which displeased the proprietor, fearing that 
it had an 'egotistical look' unbecoming a modest Quaker. 
Penn, therefore, urged that his name be crossed out. 'We 

10 



will keep it,' replied the quick-witted King, 'but not on your 
account, my dear fellow. Don't flatter yourself. We will 
keep the name to commemorate the Admiral, your noble 
father.' Whereupon, Penn was forced to yield, though he 
afterward argued that since Pen in the Welsh language also 
means 'hill,' the name Pennsylvania really meant 'Hilly 
Woodland.' " 

The Charter was similar to that granted, some half- 
century earlier, to Lord Baltimore for the province of Mary- 
land. The land belonged absolutely to Penn, to whom the 
colonists were to pay rent. On his part, he agreed to pay 
the King two beaver-skins, delivered each year at Windsor 
Castle, and one-fifth of all gold and silver to be found in the 
province. 

Free government was assured; a legislative body elected 
by the people, executive and veto power reserved to Penn, 
as perpetual governor of the province. He was also given 
right of appointing magistrates, judges, and other officers, 
and of pardoning criminals. 

Having secured grant and charter, Penn advertised for 
settlers. Five thousand acres of the new territory could be 
leased for one hundred pounds sterling, with further annual 
rental of one shilling per acre. Persons lacking ready money 
might rent two hundred acres or less, at the same price. All 
British rights and liberties were guaranteed and no laws 
could be passed without consent of the people. 

Penn expected Quakers to flock from all parts of the 
United Kingdom as well as from Holland and France to 
what he termed, and the Quakers have ever since called, "an 
Holy Experiment." For such a refuge in the new world had 
been discussed and desired through the preceding quarter- 
century. George Fox, founder of the sect, had tried through 
agents to buy land of the American Indians; but because 
of tribal wars and the difiiculty of finding a suitable location, 
nothing definite had been accomplished. 

Now that the grant had been made, it seemed reasonable 
to expect glad acceptance of religious freedom in a new land. 

But it takes time to break old ties, settle home affairs 
and embark upon a new life, and the response was somewhat 

11 



slow in coming. However, in the course of this first year, 
1681, more than twenty ships sailed for the Delaware, carry- 
ing some three thousand colonists. 

Meantime, not Penn, but his cousin, William Markham, 
went out, as deputy-governor, to take possession of Penn- 
sylvania and rule in Penn's name. 

There were scattered families of Swedes, English, and Dutch 
along the banks of the Delaware, when Markham arrived in 
July, 1681. At Upland (now Chester), about fifteen miles 
below the present site of Philadelphia, he established himself 
and remained in charge of affairs for more than a year. 

Penn did not arrive until October, 1682. The ship 
"Welcome," bearing the Great Proprietor and a group of 
colonists, set out from Deal in the late summer. Penn's 
family remained in England, fortunately, for the two month's 
voyage was saddened by an outbreak of small-pox causing 
the death of one-third the hundred passengers. The 
remnant, with their leader, landing at Newcastle, Delaware, 
were greeted by shouts of welcome from Dutch and Swedish 
settlers, the men "in leather breeches and jerkins," the 
women "in skin jackets and linsey petticoats." 

Penn showed the royal commission giving him rights over 
what is now the state of Delaware. In response, two of the 
colonists, following the old feudal ceremony, handed him 
"water and turf and twig," in token of loyalty. Thus did 
this vast new land pass over to its proprietor and the Holy 
Experiment was fairly begun. 

After arranging for the government of this part of his 
domain, Penn went on to Upland, Markham's headquarters, 
where there was a considerable settlement. This, later 
renamed Chester, became the first capital of the new province 
and here were enacted the sixty-one statutes known as "The 
Great Law" of Pennsylvania. 

Before leaving England, Penn had also drawn up a docu- 
ment called "Conditions or Concessions" to regulate the 
government of the province. A city was to be surveyed, 
roads laid out, and intercourse with the Indians regulated. 

He warned his commissioners to be "impartially just and 
courteous to any old settler," to be "tender of offending the 

12 



Indians and hearken, by honest spies, if you can hear that 
anybody inveigles them not to sell or to stand off and raise 
the value upon you." He had planned the streets of his 
capital, Philadelphia, the location of stores and markets, 
and the site of his own house. The checker-board city, in all 
its regularity, was already on paper. He had also written 
a letter to the Indians, telling them of "the Great Spirit who 
had made both the white man and the red." 

"Now the Great God hath been pleased to make me con- 
cerned in your part of the world, and the King of the country 
where I live, hath given me a great province therein; but I 
desire to enjoy it with your love and consent that we may 
always live together as neighbors and friends; else what v/ould 
the Great God do to us who hath made us (not to devour and 
destroy one another, but) to live soberly and kindly together 
in the world." To the everlasting honor of William Penn, 
these friendly words were honestly fulfilled. He was ever 
famous among his Indian neighbors as "the one white man 
and Christian who could keep faith with the savage." 
When, a few days after his arrival at Upland, Penn went by 
row-boat to the high bluff already fixed upon for his principal 
city, the Indians were gathered to meet the great pale-face. 

We may imagine the beauty of those late October days, 
the stillness of the wooded banks in their autumn coloring, 
the millions of wild-fowl. It is said that great flocks of wild 
pigeons, flying so low that they were knocked down with 
sticks, formed a staple article of food, and we read of fish and 
game in lavish abundance. Upon landing, Penn joined the 
group of Indians and immediately won their approval. He 
was then thirty-eight years old, tall, athletic, and handsome. 
Judging by his portraits, there must have been magnetism 
in his dark eyes, while cavalier training had given him courtly 
manners supported by sincerity and the earnest desire of 
being true friend to the red men. Tradition says that he 
sat on the ground beside them, ate of their food, and even 
joined in a jumping contest, surprising the Indians by his 
strength and agility. 

In November, 1682, at Shackamaxon, under a great elm, 
which survived until 1810, Penn made his famous treaty 

13 



with the Indians. This event has been made the subject of 
pictures and descriptions for which there is no foundation 
except fancy. But the old writer John Watson testifies to 
some details witnessed by a lady present at this conference, 
"a woman of truth," which must be accepted as accurate. 
The Indians had prepared, she said, the best entertainment 
within their power. Naturally attractive through the beauty 
and dignity of his person and manner, Penn further endeared 
himself to the Indians by special acts of friendliness. "He 
walked with them, sat with them on the ground, and ate with 
them of their roasted acorns and hominy. When they 
began to show their athletic skill, hopping and jumping, 
William Penn sprang up and outdanced them all." From 
this day Onas (the Indian equivalent for "feather," "quill," 
"pen," the name by which the Great Quaker was known to 
them), became their admired and trusted friend. 

Of the treaty, Voltaire remarks, "It was the only covenant 
between savages and Christians that was never sworn to and 
that was never broken." 

Penn's poHcy of paying the Indians for their land was not 
unlike that of other colonies; but perhaps his bargains were 
fairer and more scrupulously fulfilled. It is interesting to 
remember that for the tract of land extending from the 
Delaware to the Susquehanna the price paid was "44 pounds 
of red lead, 30 pair of hawk's bells, 30 fathoms of duffels, 
60 fathoms of strandwater (varieties of coarse cloth), 30 each 
of guns, kettles, shirts, combs, axes, knives, bars of lead, 
pounds of powder, pairs of scissors, pairs of stockings, glasses, 
awls, tobacco-boxes, 12 pairs of shoes, 20 tobacco-tongs, 
3 papers of beads, 6 draw-knives, 6 caps, 12 hoes, 200 fathoms 
of wampum." Not a high price for an Empire but all that 
the Indians demanded. The justice and fair dealing of the 
Quakers, joined to conditions of Indian policy, resulted in 
more than seventy years of peace. The Holy Experiment 
was wisely grounded. 

The year after Penn's arrival his city was established. 
He writes, in 1683, "Philadelphia, the expectation of those 
concerned in the province, is at last laid out, to the great 
content of those here." Its first streets were named for 



14 



plants and shrubs which the pioneer axe had felled to make 
way for log cabins. In fact, huts could not be built fast 
enough for the swarming settlers, and many people encamped 
picnic-fashion, in caves along the river bank. At the end of 
1683, there were three hundred and fifty-seven houses, most 
of them frame, a few of bright red brick. 

Penn wrote home enthusiastic letters filled with praise of 
his new estate: "O how sweet is the quiet of these parts, 
freed from the anxious and troublesome solicitations, hurries 
and perplexities of woeful Europe." Then follows account 
of the lavish gifts of nature — vegetables, game and fruits. 
Of the climate his truthfulness required what is still an 
excellent description: "The weather often changeth without 
notice and is constant almost in its inconstancy." 

Meantime, the great proprietor was not only providing 
suitable homes, but was establishing a firm and liberal 
government for his people. A written constitution had been 
prepared in England in the spring of 1682. Various distin- 
guished Englishmen advised and aided Penn in prepanng 
this document, or rather its several drafts, some twenty of 
which are still preserved among the Penn papers of the 
Pennsylvania Historical Society. These are arranged in 
order showing the gradual development of Penn's ideas. 
The draft finally adopted, bearing date of April 25, 1682, 
followed the general plan of other colonial governments, 
providing for a Governor's Council and an Assembly elected 
by the people. It is, however, notable as being the first 
constitution v/hich made provision for its own amendment. 
This feature and the method of impeachment — to be brought 
by the lower house and tried by the upper house — were 
entirely new in American governments and have since been 
adopted by all the states as well as by the federal constitution, 
PYeedom of worship was granted to all those who acknowl- 
edged one God; members of the Assembly and those who 
voted for them must believe also in the Divinity of Jesus 
Christ and the redemption of the world through Him. 
Within these limits, religious liberty was guaranteed. As 
Penn expressed it in his "Letter to the Colonists," "All and 
eveiy person in the province shall, by the help of the Lord 

15 



and these fundamentals, be free from oppression and slavery; 
no man shall have power over another man's conscience." 

Other novel doctrines were incorporated in this first 
Constitution or "Frame," as Penn called it, and were 
re-enacted by the Assembly as part of the "Great Law." 
For instance, "Governments exist for the sake of the people 
and not people for the sake of governments." "Punishment 
of criminals has for its object reformation rather than ven- 
geance." As proof of this behef, the death penalty was 
inflicted for two crimes only, murder and high treason; while 
Massachusetts hsted fifteen capital crimes. Constitution 
and laws faithfully performed Penn's promise to his people, 
for, in 1681, he had written to "Colonists already on the 
Delaware" as follows: "My friends, I wish you all happiness 
here and hereafter. These are to let you know that it hath 
pleased God in His providence to cast you within my lot and 
care. I shall not usurp the right of any or oppress his 
person." The Great Law forbade "swearing, cursing, 
drunkenness, health-drinking, card-playing, scolding, and 
lying." Work-houses and reformatories took the place of 
the foul dens in which England confined her criminals. The 
Philadelphia prisons were long famous as the best in the 
world. Pillory and whipping-post were used for minor 
offenses, but Pennsylvania was the leader in modern charities. 
Philadelphia, before the Revolution, possessed the only lunatic 
asylum founded on modern lines, as well as a hospital and 
reform school. Andrew Hamilton, Speaker of the Assembly, in 
the speech made upon his retirement from office in 1739, says in 
allusion to these philanthrophies,"All are due to the excellency 
of our Constitution framed by the vidsdom of Mr. Penn." 

A law was enacted for naturalizing Swedes and other 
foreigners, and an "Act of Union" provided for the annexa- 
tion of Delaware, then known as "The Territories," or "the 
three lower counties." This was in accord with the request 
of Delaware colonists; for while Penn's deed from the Duke 
of York had already given him the land, it did not confer the 
right of government. 

The Council consisted at first of seventy-two, later only 
eighteen, members, elected by the people. Together with the 

16 



Governor, this executive body also proposed and enforced laws, 
guarded the peace and safety of the Colony, decided upon the 
site of cities, ports and roads, established courts and schools— 
in short, kept a firm hold on all affairs of the provnice. 

The General Assembly or lower house, also elected by the 
people, was a larger body, having right only to approve the 
laws, and was intended to act as a check to any tyranny on 
the part of the Council. By combining in the latter body 
both legislative and executive powers and reserving to himself 
the veto-power, Penn established a government less liberal 
and democratic than it appeared. Yet so wise and tactful 
was the Great Proprietor, that so long as he personally 
remained at the head of affairs, matters progressed favorably 
and the people were content. 

But, unfortunately, his stay was short. The year and 
ten months of this life in the new world were the happiest 
and most peaceful days of his varied career. He had laid 
out his capital city, seen it grow into a fair-sized village, 
planned and partly built his own town mansion and a 
country-seat at Pennsbury, near Bristol. He had traveled 
to New York, in duty to his patron the Duke; to Maryland, 
for discussion of boundary disputes with Lord Baltimore; had 
gone among the Indians and the colonists of New Jersey and 
Long Island. In all these journeys, he had found time to 
preach at Quaker meetings and to win the friendship of the 
different nationalities already within his province. A long 
letter written to the Free Society of Traders, in England, shows 
the keen observation and wide knowledge of William Penn. 
Every line of it is worth reading for the light it throws upon 
natural history, conditions of life in the new world, and habits 
of the Indians, as well as for its clear and simple English. 
The Maryland boundary was still a vexed question, and 
when Penn learned that Lord Baltimore had started for 
England, it became evident that he, too, must be on hand to 
lay the matter before the King. Therefore, in August, 1684, 
the Proprietor said a reluctant farewell to his province and 
sailed for the home-land. 

It was fifteen years before he again saw his beloved Penn- 
sylvania and they were years of vexation and worry; for, in 

17 



his absence, affairs went ill with the province. There were 
constant bickerings between Council and Assembly, laws 
were made and annulled, one unpopular deputy-governor 
succeeded another. The form of government itself was 
changed six times in ten years, making trial of deputies, 
commissioners, and Council. No money was sent to Penn; 
he complained bitterly that the province owed him five 
thousand pounds sterling. Finally, in March, 1693, an 
English order-in-council deprived Penn of his rights, and 
declared Pennsylvania a royal province. The government 
was turned over to Colonel Benjamin Fletcher, an old soldier, 
then Captain-General of New York. William III, at that 
time on the English throne, was less partial to Penn than the 
Stuart kings had been. Influenced also by complaints from 
Lord Baltimore and other disappointed parties, he used his 
royal right to revoke the royal grant, giving as reasons that 
the colony was mismanaged and that it made no provision 
for defence against French aggression. But the earnestness 
of Penn's friends and the king's sense of justice, since none 
of the alleged disorders could be proved against the Proprie- 
tor, led to a return of the province to his control after less 
than two years. 

Still Penn felt it impossible to leave England. His wife, 
Guli Springett, died in 1694, leaving two children, William 
and Laetitia. 

In 1696, Penn married Hannah Callowhill, "a devout and 
comely maiden of Bristol." Finally, some three years later, 
he again sailed, with this new wife and the two grown-up 
children, to his beloved province. The voyage lasted three 
months and he anived in December, 1699. Yellow fever 
had swept over Philadelphia, causing many deaths and uni- 
versal panic. But the city had grown and prospered. It 
had more than seven hundred houses and not fewer than four 
thousand people; a Friend's Meeting-house, of course, and 
also an Episcopal Church; several brick warehouses and the 
"slate-roof house" of the Penns. Here Hannah Penn's first 
son, John, was born, the only one of Penn's numerous family 
born in America, hence always called "the American." 
There were several taverns advertising "good meals for six- 

18 



pence, lodging for twopence." Although cows and goats 
roamed at large, there were fenced gardens carefully culti- 
vated and gay with the flowers of old England. 

Some luxury was enjoyed by the early dwellers in Penn- 
sylvania, for an inventory of furniture used at Pennsbury, 
the Proprietor's country mansion about twenty miles up the 
river, includes "plush couches, embroidered chairs, curtains 
of camlet and satin, and such a carpet as was rarely seen 
outside of a palace." Fine silver and china are enumerated, 
and the table did not lack bountiful and appetizing food. 
The manor house itself is said to have cost five thousand 
pounds sterling. Its bricks had been brought from England 
and it had been carefully planned and begun by Penn on his 
first visit. Gardens, lawns and terraces, an avenue of poplars 
leading to the river, vistas opened to afford lovely views 
through the surrounding forest, and paths laid out for walks 
— all these early descriptions give up a pleasant picture of an 
easy, agreeable life in strong contrast to the rugged simplicity 
of New England at the same era. 

Meetings of the Council and Indian deputations were 
often entertained in the great hall at Pennsbury. The Lord 
Proprietor traveled between his town and country house 
either on horseback, or by river in a six-oared barge. His 
ideal of democracy was that of a patriarch ruling over a happy 
people, absolute control joined to popular rights — the same 
odd mingling of characters as that which combined in Penn 
the Quaker and the Cavalier. 

But not all was harmonious in the new colony. Dis- 
agreements between Pennsylvania and Delaware, between 
Quakers and EpiscopaHans, between Council and Assembly; 
failure in paying rents; defalcation of trusted agents; there 
were plenty of anxieties for William Penn. His fair-minded- 
ness is evidenced in an appeal to his people. 

"Friends," he said, "if in the Constitution by charter 
there be anything that jars, alter it." 

In accordance with this generous permission, the Consti- 
tution was, in 1701, revised, shortened, and made more 
liberal. Penn signed the new document "without hesitation 
or delay" and under its provisions the Colony was governed 

19 



up to the Revolution. It was "thoroughly American" and 
undoubtedly gave the model for many clauses in our Federal 
Constitution. 

Meantime, affairs in England required the presence of the 
Great Quaker, and he returned to the old country in the winter 
of 1701. Sharp differences of opinion existed between the 
King and Pean; it looked for a while as if Pennsylvania might 
again be taken from its founder. But, within a few months, 
William III died and Queen Anne came to the throne. As 
James IPs daughter, this queen had friendly feelings toward 
her father's favorite and Penn felt that his Holy Experiment 
was once more safe from royal meddling. 

However, new troubles arose through the deputies sent 
by Penn to administer in his absence the affairs of the 
Colony. One of these, John Evans by name, being not a 
Quaker but a hot-headed youth of twenty-five, yearned for 
military glory. England and New England were fighting 
with the French and Indians, while the Quaker Colony, pro- 
tected by friendly tribes, stood apart from the scene of war. 
Evans, disregarding both the welfare of the province and its 
religious objections to fighting, urged that troops be sent to 
aid the cause of England. 

Meeting with no response, he resorted to strategem. On 
the day of the annual "Fair," a pleasant spring morning in 
1706, the Philadelphia streets and market places were 
crowded by holiday-makers. A horseman came galloping 
into town, announcing with great excitement that French 
warships — a dozen of them — were coming up the Delaware. 
Governor Evans quickly mounted his own horse, cantered 
from street to street waving a sword and summoning people 
to take arms against the enemy. Not a word of truth was in 
this rumor of ships, but the citizens were terrified. Silver 
spoons and other precious things were thrown into wells 
or buried in gardens. Boats were loaded with fleeing people 
who hurried up the river into hiding. Yet, most of the 
Quakers gathered at their meeting-house and steadfastly 
refused to flee; while only four denied their doctrines by 
arming themselves and going to the rallying place urged by 
the governor. The panic was soon over and with it ended 

20 



the influence of Governor Evans. He tried other means of 
winning notoriety. One such scheme was that known as 
Powder Money. This was a tax which Evans contrived to 
have levied on every ship passing Newcastle, the proceeds to 
aid in prosecution of the war. Penn's charter had expressly 
forbidden such levies and the Quakers protested. Three of 
them, Hill, Norris, and Preston, with true Revolutionary 
spirit, chased and captured a sloop, arrested its commander 
and delivered him to the authorities at Salem. After this 
incident, Powder Money ceased to be collected. Evans was 
recalled and the succeeding deputy, Colonel Charles Gorkin, 
managed to restore the confidence of the people in their 
absent proprietor. 

In addition to his troubles as ruler, William Penn had 
domestic sorrows. His son, William, was dissipated and 
idle, almost breaking his father's heart by his scandalous 
behavior. Laetitia, the daughter (whose house has been 
removed to Fairmount Park and is still preserved), married 
a grasping person named Aubrey, who was always begging 
money from Penn. A false steward, Philip Ford, made his 
master much trouble. He lent money to Penn, who was 
embarrassed by the debts of his son and the extortions of his 
son-in-law. The province was mortgaged as security and 
even after the loan was cancelled. Ford retained the deed. 
For, thoroughly honorable himself, the Great Quaker 
trusted to the honor of others. Ford died in 1706, but his 
widow and his son pressed an utterly unfounded claim for 
j6"14,000 and petitioned Queen Anne to give them, on the basis 
of the cancelled mortgage, proprietary rights to Pennsyl- 
vania. They did not succeed, but in the conflict of claims 
Penn was thrown into a debtor's prison, where he remained 
nine months. Quaker friends on both sides of the Atlantic 
bestirred themselves for his release. The Fords were bought 
off and Penn was set at liberty. 

There followed a few years of comparative peace, save for 
domestic anxieties and financial stress. Moreover, Penn felt 
himself growing old; he was now nearly seventy. It is no 
wonder that he wished to sell his rights to the Crown, asking 
in pajntnent £12,000 and keeping only his private estate. But 

21 



before the bargain could be completed he was rendered 
incapable of business transactions. In 1712, a paralytic 
stroke laid him low. The remaining six years of his life are a 
sad record of constantly failing memory and senses. At 
the end his strong mind had become a blank, his dimmed 
eyes never again looked upon their beloved Pennsylvania, 
and he died peacefully in 1718. 

During these six years of his failing health, Mrs. Penn, 
aided by prudent deputies, had managed the affairs of the 
province and now, by Penn's will, she became its owner. 
Legacies were left to the children, and the government, 
which had always been considered separate from the owner- 
ship, was bequeathed to several noblemen, in trust, to sell 
to the Crown. William Penn, the oldest son, however, 
claimed the right to govern and, before the ensuing law-suit 
could be settled, his death and that of his son Springett Penn, 
left the whole estate to the children of the second wife. A 
compromise vested in her both proprietary and governing 
rights, she became the Lord Proprietor of Pennsylvania, and, 
though prevented from visiting her province, she ruled 
acceptably, through various governors, until her death in 
1733. Then the ownership of Pennsylvania passed to her 
three sons, John, Thomas, and Richard. These all died in 
England. Richard's two sons governed in turn, and when 
the Revolution ended the proprietary government, Pennsyl- 
vania was still in possession of Penn's heirs. 

The growth of the Colony was steady, even rapid. Great 
numbers of German and Scotch-Irish immigrants peopled 
the frontier settlements, but were good neighbors content to 
leave matters of government to the Quaker Assembly. 
Higher education found little favor; for the Quakers depended 
upon the "inner light" rather than upon scholarship. But 
the children were carefully taught "the three R's," and a 
school was established at Philadelphia in the very first year 
of its settlement, 1683. Here the master, Enoch Flower, 
taught "reading for four shillings the quarter; for six shillings 
the pupil could add writing, or for eight shillings, arithmetic 
likewise." In 1689, the Society of Friends set up a public 
school to which, in 1711, Penn granted a charter. But it 

22 



was not until 1749 that Benjamin Franklin started an 
Academy. Four years later this school obtained a charter 
and was, for the next qilarter-century, spoken of as "The 
College." Non-sectarian, it included at first every sect in 
its Board of Trustees, but later became Episcopalian. 
Franklin was advanced in his ideas of education, as of every- 
thing else, and felt that the youth of the Colony should have 
opportunities of learning nearer home than were Yale and 
Harvard in the north, or William and Mary in the south, the 
only colleges then flourishing. He advocated, however, 
discarding Greek and Latin from the course and substituting 
the study of English and especially of science. 

A printing-house was opened in 1685, the first press south 
of New England, and owes its establishment to William 
Bradford, who also built a paper-mill. In 1719, his son, 
Andrew Bradford, issued the first newspaper of the Colony. 
It was here that Franklin found work as type-setter in 1723. 

Other arts and sciences began to flourish. Philadelphia 
may boast early botanists, mathematicians, astronomers; 
while Franklin himself was the new-world leader in scientific 
discovery and invention. We owe to him not only the 
fundamental knowledge of electric currents, but such practi- 
cal utilities as open stoves, street lamps, the fire department, 
and the circulating library. 

Literature was not neglected. The very first American 
drama, a tragedy called "The Prince of Parthia," was the 
work of a Philadelphian, Thomas Godfrey. Yet the Quakers 
looked coldly upon dramatic efforts and when, in 1749, a 
small company undertook to render Shakespeare, the 
performance was suppressed by the city authorities. 

Though agriculture was the principal business of the Penn- 
sylvania people, manufactures and commerce were not far 
behind. Wheat, timber, and furs were exported. Phila- 
delphia ale became famous and "good German Glass" was 
made at German town. Pig iron was manufactured; by the 
middle of the eighteenth century three thousand tons of it 
were exported annually to England. FVom an old book, 
entitled "The Importance of British Plantations in America," 
we read a list of other exports — "Wheat, flour, bisket, 

23 



barrelled beef and pork, bacon, ham, butter, cheese, cyder, 
apples, soap, starch, hair-powder, tanned leather, beeswax, 
tallow-candles, strong beer, linseed oil, strong waters, deer- 
skins and other peltry, hemp, some little tobacco, lumber, — 
also drugs of various sorts." A creditable list for a colony 
less than seventy-five years old. 

By the middle of the eighteenth century, Pennsylvania 
had taken third place among the colonies in population; by 
the Revolution it had increased to second rank — only Vir- 
ginia surpassing it. Towns had multiplied. Philadelphia, 
grown to thirty thousand population, was, by 1750, the 
largest city in the new world. Lancaster boasted ten 
thousand; York was nearly as large. 

Labor was plentiful and well-paid. There were some negro 
slaves though most of the work was done by "Redemp- 
tioners" — articled servants, principally Irish and German. 
Their term of service was four years, five days being added 
for every day they played truant. Good behavior gave 
them, at the end of service, a suit of clothes and a set of farm 
tools. Colored slaves were used for household service but 
the Quaker conscience was early aroused on the question of 
slavery. In 1688, in a "Memorial," sent to the Germantown 
Monthly Meeting of Quakers, some German "Friends" pro- 
tested against "the buying and keeping of negroes." Efforts 
continued to prevent, by statute, the importation of slaves 
and some years before the Revolution they had ceased to 
enter Pennsylvania. In 1758, the Yearly Meeting ordered 
all Friends to set free their slaves, "making a Christian pro- 
vision for them." Some people failed to obey this order and, 
in 1776, a declaration of independence for all slaves held by 
Friends was decreed; Quakers who persisted in holding 
slaves were excommunicated. 

Under Mrs. Penn's government, wealth rapidly increased. 
Mortgages were paid off and, for the first time, possessions 
in the Quaker colony became profitable rather than expen- 
sive. The experience of Pennsylvania with paper currency 
was more fortunate than that of the New England colonies, 
where inflation nearly proved their ruin. Paper money, in 
Penn's province, maintained a steady value and was always 

24 



sound. This was partly due to the peace enjoyed by the 
Colony for some seventy years, but chiefly to the restraint in 
issuing these promissory notes. Only enough paper money 
was given out at one time to supply the place of gold taken 
to England, thus always preserving a just balance of credit. 
The Penn heirs gradually allied themselves with the Church 
of England; but, while that placed executive powers in the 
hands of Episcopalians, the Assembly was still under Quaker 
control. There was naturally much pulling in different 
directions between the two branches of government. Keith, 
one of the early governors sent out by Mrs. Penn, became 
popular with the Assembly but curried favor by numerous 
false promises. It was he who sent the youthful Franklin 
off to England, assuring him valuable letters of introduction 
which never materialized. It was at Keith's suggestion that 
paper money was first issued. He skillfully granted all 
reasonable requests of the people or managed by plausible 
arguments to win them over to his wishes. But he over- 
reached himself, finally, by dismissing from the Council its 
greatest man, James Logan, who was successively Secretary 
of the Province, President of Council, and Chief Justice. 
He was also a noted botanist and the famous Linnaeus named 
for him a class of plants, the Loganaceae. Public-spirited 
and of great prudence, he had been a valued friend to William 
Penn. When, therefore, Keith endeavored to humiliate him, 
the matter was laid before Mrs. Penn. She promptly 
rebuked the Governor, who resisted and argued. Then he 
was recalled but lingered long enough to plot against the 
proprietary government. Compelled at last to escape his 
creditors by fleeing to England, he later distinguished himself 
by publishing suggestions for taxing American colonies, and 
died disgraced in a debtor's prison. Hewas followed asGovernor 
of Pennsylvania by an old soldier named Gordon whose wise 
administration gave Mrs. Penn peaceful years until her death. 
John Penn, "the American," came over, stayed only a few 
months, and returned to settle anew in England, the endless 
boundary dispute with Maryland. Thomas Penn was 
governor for nine years, 1732 to 1741. He was a careful 
business man but lacked his father's generosity and breadth 

25 



of vision. Times had changed indeed. There were now 
nearly half a million people, English, Scotch-Irish and 
German, to be governed and their rents collected. Treaties 
must still be made with the Indians, boundaries settled with 
Connecticut, Maryland, and Virginia. Then there was the 
difficult question of military defense, becoming yearly more 
necessary, but yet entirely contrary to the Quaker belief. 

In the words of the historian Sharpless: "Pennsylvania be- 
came the most consistently prosperous of all the colonies, 
the most rapid in its growth in freedom and prosperity. 
So nearly had the inhabitants everything they could desire 
that they hesitated to take up the Revolutionary cause in 
1775. Their charter, their traditions, their thoughts, were 
all free and they were slow to understand the fervor of New 
England and Virginia." 

The attitude of the Quaker party toward the war has been 
further summarized as follows: 

"We did not approve the proceedings of the British 
Ministry, which irritated the Americans; we thought them 
ill-advised and in view of their certain effects, wicked; we 
would have joined with our fellow citizens in peaceful legal 
resistance to them and have suffered for the principles of 
liberty and justice. But we do not believe in war; we will 
not be a party to overturning the beneficent charter of 
William Penn, nor will we aid in throwing off our ultimate 
allegiance to the King of Great Britain. We, who largely 
made this Province what it is, and who have shown in the past 
our capacity for the peaceful maintenance of rights, are 
utterly opposed to the measures now taken and disavow all 
responsibility for them. We cannot take any part in the 
war, on one side or the other; we cannot recognize the revolu- 
tionary government, set up by illegal means, by holding office 
under it or by affirming allegiance to it; nor will we assist 
Britain in the unrighteous means taken to conquer rebellious 
Provinces; we are out of the whole business and will give aid 
and comfort to neither party." 

The wish of the "Friends" was thus to observe strict 
neutrality, but as events hurried into the actual struggle, 
patriotism led many younger members of their faith into 

26 



resistance so opposed to Quaker teaching that the Monthly 
Meetings were kept busy discipHning these "sorrowful defec- 
tions." One such case was that of Thomas Mifflin, who 
became aide-de-camp to General Washington, major-general, 
and finally first governor of the state. It is estimated that 
about one-fifth of the adult male Quakers in Philadelphia 
joined the American army or took places under the revolu- 
tionary government. A very small number came out openly 
on the British side. 

Most of the Quakers, however, were conscientious pacifists 
and consistently neutral. Like most peacemakers, they 
suffered from both opponents, American and British, and 
their story in the Revolution is unhappy and sorrowful. 
Besides suffering minor indignities, a party of twenty^"the 
best citizens of Philadelphia" — were exiled to Virginia, 
because they would neither avow allegiance to the American 
Government nor even promise good behavior if allowed to 
remain in their homes. For eight months they suffered the 
discomforts of exile, two of them died. When danger from 
British invasion seemed less threatening, a petition to 
General Washington effected the release of these prisoners 
and their safe conduct through the lines back to Philadelphia. 

While admitting and admiring this firm adherence to the 
teachings of their faith, the later historian may appreciate its 
irritating effect upon the ardent patriotism of those "times 
which tried men's souls." Although the Keystone Colony 
had prospered through seventy years of peace, her sister 
colonies had been less fortunate. Not only was it needful to 
repel Indian attacks but the colonists were called upon to aid 
England in the series of wars with France and Spain. 

These struggles were sometimes called by different names 
in England and in America, but are usually classed in history 
as, King William's war, 1689 to 1697; Queen Anne's war, 1702 
to 1713; King George's war, 1744 to 1748. This last war, 
though supposed to end for England at the treaty of Aix-la- 
Chapelle, continued in America without cessation until, in 1755, 
it merged into the Seven Years' war, known to us as the 
French and Indian War. The French, strongly entrenched 
in Canada, were trying to push their claims through the Ohio 

27 



and Mississippi valleys and gradually to absorb the whole of 
North America. By gifts and clever propaganda, they had 
allied to themselves the most war-like of the Indian tribes. 
The brunt of the fighting had hitherto been borne by New 
England and New York, while Pennsylvania, hemmed in by 
peaceful Indians, had escaped the expenses and sacrifices, 
calamities and horrors, of war. Often the provincial govern- 
ments had been asked for financial aid. As early as 1739, 
when Spanish privateers were abroad on the sea and threaten- 
ing the commerce of the colonies, Governor Thomas asked the 
Assembly for money. They replied, "The Quakers do not 
(as the world is now circumstanced) condemn the use of arms 
in others, yet are principled against it themselves." This 
gave the Governor a chance, which he promptly took, of 
raising a militia force through volunteers. Some seven 
hundred men, most of them "redemptioners," accepted this 
opportunity. Then the Assembly, in compliance with com- 
plaints, refused to finance the small army until these servants 
were returned to their masters. In that event i!30,000 would 
be voted. Governor Thomas, feeling that it was more 
difficult to replace men than pounds sterling, refused these 
conditions and raised the money on British credit. Where- 
upon, the Assembly devoted its £30,000 to reimbursing the 
masters for their runaway servants. This course was so 
satisfactory to the people, that it became the Quaker war- 
policy — those whose conscience would permit, might don the 
uniform, the Assembly would recompense losses and in 
addition vote money to the Crown. 

But there was bitter feeling between the Governor and the 
Assembly, and two parties were formed. In the election of 
1742, great excitement prevailed and there was a riot in 
Philadelphia. The Quakers won, being supported by almost 
the whole German population, and all the old members were 
re-elected. The Governor was fairly beaten and yielded to 
the demands of the Assembly. 

PYanklin helped in enlisting those who wished to fight. 
The first Pennsylvania militia, raised through his aid, were 
called "Associators," a force ignored by the Quakers who 
were, however, not unwilling to help support it by indirect 

28 



means. Thus, when Massachusetts, fitting out the expedi- 
tion which captured Louisburg, in King George's War, asked 
for help, the Pennsylvania Assembly voted £4,000, "to be 
expended in the purchase of bread, beef, pork, flour, wheat, or 
other grain." Franklin, in his autobiography, says that the 
words, "other grain" were inserted by the Assembly so that 
the governor might buy gunpowder. 

In 1746, Thomas resigned his governorship and went back 
to England, leaving the executive powers to the President of 
Council. Very soon the latter was called upon to defend his 
city against Spanish privateers which were committing depre- 
dations in the bay. One of these came up the river capturing 
all the small ships as she went, and towing them along. It 
was her evident intent to take a man-of-war lying before 
Newcastle. George Proctor, an English sailor, who had been 
pressed into service on the Spanish ship, slipped overboard 
into one of the captured sail-boats, cut loose, and steered 
toward Salem, to give the alarm. The wind failing, as he 
neared the port, he abandoned his boat, swam ashore at three 
o'clock in the morning, and roused the sleeping people of 
Salem and Newcastle. The guns of the small fort were then 
turned toward the enemy and fired upon her for an hour. 
Replying by a single shot, raising the Spanish flag, and giving 
three cheers, the Spanish ship dropped down the river and 
put out to sea. Thus Pennsylvania also may boast her 
Paul Revere. 

Another danger was threatening the province. The 
Indians had lost their early simplicity and trust in the white 
man. For while William Penn and his immediate followers 
were scrupulous in the justice of their dealings, later agents 
became more greedy in the desire for new land. The famous 
"Walking Purchase" was an example of graft never forgotten 
by the tribes. This was a bargain made in 1737, for the fer- 
tile Minisink country. A line drawn from Wrightstown, a 
little way above Trenton, northwest, parallel with the 
Delaware river "as far as a man could walk in a day and a 
half"— the line from this point to the river— these were the 
terms of an agreement, signed by Indians and white men. 
On the day appointed for the walk, delegates from both 

29 



parties assembled to see fair play. The strongest and 
nimblest walkers were chosen to start at dawn and they 
walked "twelve hours by the sheriff's watch." The Indians 
complained that it was running rather than walking, and 
when at the expiration of the second half-day, the exhausted 
"walkers" fell almost fainting at the end of their strength, 
the limit reached was thirty miles beyond the Lehigh river, 
which the Indians had believed would be the utmost point 
possible to reach. Then the connecting line to the Delaware 
was slanted so as to include the whole of the coveted tract. 
It was a fraud and the Indians nursed their resentment 
against the day of vengeance. Other deeds and grants left 
the Indians with a sense of being over-reached and defrauded. 

On the other hand, the tribes of the province, inferior to 
those of the Six Nations, had been degraded by the white 
man's rum which was used to bribe them. Under its 
influence they became drunken brutes ready for any violence. 
The Quakers never succeeded in winning many converts to 
their faith among the Indians, though German Moravian 
missionaries labored faithfully and with some success. 

The French lost no opportunity to draw the tribes away 
from their allegiance to the English and it became a question 
of which nation could offer largest bribes. The French and 
Indian War gave to the Indians, thus alienated, their oppor- 
tunity for revenge. 

In 1755, occurred the defeat of Braddock near Fort 
DuQuesne, the present site of Pittsburgh. Attempting to 
fight by European methods against the unknown strategems 
of lurking savages, his army was cut to pieces. This gave 
the long-desired opportunity for massacre; defenceless border 
settlements were attacked and destroyed, about thirty 
people were killed. With the taste of blood, frenzy fell upon 
even the old friends of Penn, Delawares, Shawnees, Mingoes 
and the rest. Throughout the wide forests where scattered 
log-cabins sheltered pioneer families, in little clearings and 
settlements along the Susquehanna, everywhere on the border 
lines of Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland, the blow fell — 
fire and tomahawk. Women and children were killed, men 
brained and scalped, only the Recording Angel knows the 

30 



number of tragedies enacted in those terrible autumn months 
of 1755. All the region round what is now Harrisburg was 
made desolate. The gentle Moravians of Bethlehem and 
Gnadenhutten, who had ever tried to win and serve the 
Indians, were slaughtered. In one settlement, the savages 
falling upon a school-house killed and scalped master and 
pupils. Even within fifty miles of Philadelphia, torture and 
killing went on; the bodies of whole murdered families were 
dragged into the city and displayed before the State House. 
No wonder that the poor Quakers, with their doctrines of 
peace, were panic-stricken and paralyzed. The western 
roads were crowded with refugees, families fleeing from 
vengeance; while the army under General Dunbar, which 
should have stayed to protect the frontier, had retreated 
from Fort DuQuesne to the safety of Philadelphia. Penn- 
sylvania was in no worse case than were the neighboring 
colonies who had no conscientious scruples against war. 
Virginia was equally helpless, though Washington himself 
commanded an army of fifteen hundred Virginians. The 
Quaker Assembly had no money and Governor Morris 
rejected all bills for raising funds by taxation. But again 
an appeal was made for private subscriptions and £10,000 
was raised as a loan to be paid, sometime, by the Assembly. 
War-feeling grew stronger, petitions for defence rained upon 
the Assembly from every part of the province. Some four 
hundred determined Germans marched to the State House 
demanding redress, and about three hundred loyal Indians 
joined their plea. If help were not forthcoming they must, 
in self-defence, go over to the French. Even Quaker con- 
sciences could not hold out against such demands. England 
also protested and £5,000 was finally voted for protection. 
Franklin again came forward with a Militia Law and re- 
cruited more than a thousand soldiers for warfare against the 
Indians. Thus by making enlistment voluntary, the Quaker 
conscience was absolved. Franklin himself was chosen to 
lead his troops, though he had always hated war and knew 
little about it; in fact he had never used a gun even for hunt- 
ing. But his men trusted him and willingly followed his 
lead into the Lehigh Valley. Here, in the winter of 1755 and 

31 



1756, they built a chain of forts and held the Indians at bay. 
But after Franklin's return to Philadelphia and throughout 
the succeeding three years, raids were again common. 
Massacres, plundering and burning went on as before. "Men 
were waylaid as they passed along the roads or trails, women 
were killed as they went to visit the sick, children as they 
drove the cows home at night, and many captives of all ages 
were carried to Canada and the wilderness of the Ohio." 

For many months the system of weak defence by forts, 
which were really only refuges for the colonists when attacked, 
was the only method employed by the province. But in the 
summer of 1756, Colonel John Armstrong headed a force 
against Kitanning, a town on the Allegheny river, used as a 
stronghold and base for the Indian enemy. This was sur- 
rounded, ambushed, and taken by surprise. The victory 
was complete, and the Indians, who had never before been 
attacked in their town by a white foe, were demoralized by 
this unexpected offensive. A conference was held at Easton 
in November, 1756, and again at Lancaster in May, 1757. 
A treaty of peace was made with the Delawares and the 
Shawnees, converting these tribes from dangerous enemies 
to friends who would act as guides against the western foe, 
the French and the hostile Indians. 

Notwithstanding this arrangement, scalping parties con- 
tinued their raids and even came within thirty miles of Phila- 
delphia. Every family outside of the city lived in constant 
anxiety; many of the richest farms were deserted and pro- 
perty was abandoned. The province was also torn by party 
strife. Demands were made for money, for men, for pro- 
tection. There was unwillingness on the part of the governor 
to allow taxation and on the part of the Assembly to force a 
Militia Law. But the conscientious objectors to war had 
lost their majority in the Assembly; as early as 1756, "six 
Quaker delegates resigned, others declined to be candidates, 
and later four more resigned." A strong party opposed to 
the Quakers at last foiced through a bill for compulsory 
militia service, and a large grant of money for defence. Forts 
were built and manned, but the French still won victories, 
the Indians renewed their raids. 

32 



It was not until William Pitt became prime minister of 
England, that a new system of defence turned the tide in 
favor of the colonies. A large army was sent from England; 
arms, ammunition, provisions and tents were furnished by the 
mother country; only wages and clothing were asked from 
the province. This aid stimulated the fighting spirit of the 
colonists, who at once raised more money and men than ever 
before. Some fifty thousand soldiers, of whom twenty 
thousand were provincials, gathered for a serious offensive 
against Canada and the West. Pennsylvania furnished 
twenty-seven thousand troops, more than any other colony, 
and was concerned in the expedition against Fort DuQuesne. 
Its commander was General Forbes, a Scotchman. Wash- 
ington commanded the combined forces of Virginia, Mary- 
land and North Carolina. These two armies joined forces 
at Bedford, Pennsylvania, in September, 1758. There were 
many delays in the westward advance, but the time was well 
used by people at home to win over some of the Indian tribes. 
A huge Indian conclave was again held at Easton in October, 
1758. Delegates from the powerful Six Nations were present. 
There, all complaints of ill treatment were heard, the Walking 
Purchase and other land-grabbing incidents were discussed, 
and, so far as possible, wrongs were righted. The Minisinks 
were given a thousand pounds to satisfy their claims. Lands 
unjustly taken were given back. A missionary messenger, 
Frederick Post, by name, was sent out twice to the Ohio 
country with terms of peace and, after incredible hardships, 
returned with a white wampum belt, insuring friendship. 
The army, under Forbes and Bouquet and Washington, 
moved slowly west. One of the divisions, under Lewis and 
Grant, was defeated and cut to pieces near Fort DuQuesne, 
but the main army followed in such numbers that the French 
abandoned their garrison and fled. When the English 
reached the fort it had been stripped and burned; nothing 
was left for the conquerors to do, but to bury their dead 
comrades, rebuild the fort and garrison it. Fort Pitt came 
into being and Pittsburgh was named. So ended the war, at 
least Pennsylvania's share in it, and the French gave up 
forever their attempt to win the Mississippi valley. In 1763, 

33 



the treaty of Paris was signed, bringing peace to England and 
her colonies. 

Benjamin Franklin was easily the foremost man in Penn- 
sylvania. He spent two years in England in the course of the 
war, trying to have the Crown tax the proprietary estates for 
the benefit of the province. Letters, pamphlets, history, 
flowed from his facile pen, and his ultimate object seemed to 
have been to turn Pennsylvania over to the Crown. But, by 
a compromise, he effected a "single tax," bearing equally on 
all land holders. This was satisfactory to the colonists and 
brought Franklin great fame. Several other colonies at once 
asked him to become their agent. No American was ever 
more highly honored abroad than was FVanklin. He was 
f^ted and dined in highest circles of society, presented with 
degrees from various colleges, made a member of scientific 
bodies, and consulted by the greatest scientists of the age. 
On his return to Pennsylvania, the summer after the treaty 
of Paris, he was given a vote of thanks by the Assembly and 
£500 for each year he had been away in their service. 

The treaty of 1763 seemed to have brought a lasting peace. 
The farmers of Pennsylvania returned to their neglected 
fields with new ambition and the hope of great prosperity; 
but within six months a new enemy appeared in the person 
of Pontiac, an Indian chief who had not signed the treaty. 
He was bitter against the English, who had cut down forest 
trees, killed or frightened away the game, and constantly 
pushed civilization farther into the red man's domain. 
Pontiac was a shrewd and cunning savage with more brains 
and greater courage than most of his race. He organized the 
tribes from the lakes to the far south for a grand onslaught 
upon the colonies. By June, 1763, the scalping parties in 
their victorious career, leaving death and desolation behind 
them, reached Fort Pitt. The fort itself stood firm, but the 
Indian hordes swept past it over western Pennsylvania, with 
massacre and burning, as far as the Susquehanna. Panic- 
stricken people fled before them. Carlisle and Shippensburg 
were crowded with refugees, hundreds hid in cellars and barns 
or camped along the river side. The surprise was complete 
and there was no plan of defence. From Philadelphia relief 

34 



was sent to the fugitives and such help as food, clothing and 
ammunition could bring; but Fort Pitt was surrounded by- 
Indians and besieged for several weeks. Colonel Bouquet 
with five hundred men, a company just returned broken and 
sick from a West India campaign, started from Carlisle for the 
relief of Fort Pitt. It seemed as if this "hospital battalion" 
could accomplish httle, but their gallant leader pressed on, 
marching by night, using Indian tactics, and finally forcing 
an open battle. It was a victory, won at fearful cost of 
suffering; P^ort Pitt was saved, the Indians fled to the west 
and for that year, at least, the frontier was again at peace. 

As a measure of defence, the pioneers organized bands of 
"rangers." They adopted Indian methods and dress, even 
painted their faces, in order to steal among the Indians and 
anticipate or prevent surprise attacks. Friendship of the 
Quakers for their red brothers had been turned, not unnatur- 
ally, into bitter hatred and a desire for vengeance. Especially 
was this true of the Scotch-Irish settlers and they determined 
to exterminate the Indians, using the enemy's method of 
stealthy massacre. There was feeling, too, against the 
Quakers and the Quaker doctrines. The heathen, it was 
argued, had been delivered by God into the power of the white 
man for annihilation rather than for treaties of friendship. 
The dealing of Israel with the tribes of Canaan was quoted 
to prove that murders and scalpings were permitted as 
showing God's displeasure. At Lancaster, a body of rangers, 
under "the Paxton Boys," fell upon a group of Conestoga 
Indians, harmless people who supported themselves by making 
brooms and baskets. Breaking open the jail where some 
fourteen Indians had been placed for protection, these Scotch- 
Irish hot-bloods killed them all, men, women and children, 
the first application of "lynch law" known in our country. 

Most of the English settlers were horrified and indignant. 
Franklin wrote a pamphlet, called "The Nan-ative," which 
won great popularity and praise among the Quakers. He 
expressed the shame and disgrace of such conduct on the 
part of Christians, especially toward the peaceful descendants 
of the tribes which had welcomed William Penn and 
received his pledge of kindness; but other settlers on the 

35 



frontier and in eastern Pennsylvania sympathized so strongly 
with the lynchers that the government could do nothing 
except denounce the murder. This outburst of lawlessness 
unfortunately led to bitter party strife between the Scotch- 
Irish or "Presbyterians" (as all Puritans, Independents, 
and Congregationalists were called) and the Quakers. A 
party of frontiersmen actually marched to Philadelphia, 
vowing to capture the city and destroy the hundred and 
forty Moravian Indians sheltered among their Quaker 
friends. There was something approaching a panic. The 
Indians were first sent to New York, but promptly 
returned by the government as being too dangerous guests. 
Then they were protected as much as possible in the Phila- 
delphia barracks. The city was armed and civil war was 
expected. Happily, parleys saved the day. The Presby- 
terian party was induced to hold conferences, send in 
memorials and petitions, and for some years a battle of pam- 
phlets waged. Some fifty or sixty of these, on both sides of 
the argument, are still preserved. The Quakers are accused, 
in prose and verse, of harboring and befriending Indians in 
order that the white population might be destroyed. The 
Quakers on their side held that Indian land had been unlaw- 
fully taken. The only practical result of this war of words 
was a proclamation from the governor offering a reward for 
Indian scalps, so far had revenge overcome the policy of 
peace. This proclamation deeply offended the Assembly; 
but later historians can excuse it because the times were so 
full of danger and the bounties so urgently needed for protec- 
tion of the frontiers. To the honor of the colony, it must 
be recorded that, so far as known, no Indian was ever killed 
solely for the sake of the reward. 

The year 1767 is memorable because it saw surveyed the 
famous Mason and Dixon line. Two mathematicians and 
surveyors, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, came from 
London to determine the long-disputed boundary between 
Pennsylvania and Maryland— later to be a world-known 
demarcation between freedom and slavery. 

At the end of every mile, for one hundred and thirty-two 
miles, was set up a stone brought from England. On one 

36 



side were the arms of Penn and on the other the arms of Lord 
Baltimore. 

For four years the work went on, meeting considerable 
interference from Indian raids; then the surveyors resigned 
their difficult task. It is interesting to note the salaries 
allowed them: ten shillings six pence, about two dollars and 
sixty cents; for the last six months, twice that, or twenty- 
one shillings, little more than five dollars per day. Then 
wages stopped until they went aboard ship for England, 
when they were again given ten and six a day until they 
should land. 

The remaining boundary line on the south was not com- 
pleted until after the Revolution, in 1784. Early writers 
speak of the accuracy and the straightness of the Mason and 
Dixon line and the pleasant vistas through dense forests, 
made by this avenue. 

But though boundary disputes might be ended by the 
surveyor's compass, more serious difficulties with the home 
government began to cloud the future of the province. In 
that same year, 1767, Parliament passed a bill taxing tea, 
glass, painters' colors, and paper. This was contrary to the 
"frame of government" allowed the colony, and resolutions of 
protest were signed by all the leading merchants of Phila- 
delphia. In response to this and other petitions, England 
repealed the obnoxious duties excepting three pence per 
pound on tea, a trifling tax which even then permitted the 
colonists to purchase their favorite beverage at less than it 
cost in England. 

But it was principle for which contention was made — the 
right to make their own laws. Meetings and associations 
urged that the tea should be neither imported nor purchased. 
So much of it accumulated on the hands of the East India 
Company that Parliament was forced to grant the right of 
exporting it from England to any part of the world free of 
duty. But none of the new world ports would receive it. 

Not only did Boston have her famous "tea party," when 
cases of the precious herb were broken open and thrown into 
the harbor, but tea-ships were as resolutely, if less dramati- 
cally, refused admission to New York and Philadelphia. At 

37 



Charleston, the tea was received but stored in damp cellars 
and never sold, becoming a total loss. 

Near Christmas time, in 1773, the ship "Polly," com- 
manded by Captain Ayres and loaded with tea, was sighted 
as it approached Philadelphia. A hastily called meeting of 
citizens was held in the State House Yard; a solemn declara- 
tion was made that "no power on earth has the right of 
taxation without the consent of the taxed." Delegates were 
sent to keep the tea-ship from landing. The Captain was, 
however, invited to come ashore and was greeted as follows: 

"What think you, Captain, of a halter round your neck, 
ten gallons of tar decanted on your pate with the feathers of 
a dozen wild geese laid over that to enliven your appearance? 
Only think seriously of this and fly to the place whence you 
came. Fly without hesitation and above all, dear Captain, 
let us advise you to fly without the wild goose feathers." 

He was further warned that the colonists would never have 
"the detestable tea funneled down their throats with Parlia- 
ment's duty mixed with it." 

Captain Ayres was escorted back to the wharf, and, per- 
ceiving the stern reality underlying this gi'im pleasantry, he 
promptly obeyed orders, taking the "Polly" with her cargo 
of tea back to London. 

On the twenty-sixth of December, Paul Revere, riding 
horseback full speed from Boston, brought news of the raid 
upon tea ships in Boston harbor, and thereby increased the 
excitement at Philadelphia to fever heat. He came again in 
March, 1774, to report the Boston Port Bill; for since Boston 
was the worst offender. Parliament had retaliated by closing 
that harbor to all shipping. 

At a meeting in City Tavern, Philadelphia, resolutions were 
passed giving assurance of sympathy and support for Boston, 
although "recommending prudence and moderation." Large 
contributions of money were promptly sent. Yet not all the 
colonists were of one opinion, and it was about this time that 
the terms Whig and Tory came into use— Whigs being those 
who sympathized with Boston; Tories, those who sided with 
Parliament. The Governor of Pennsylvania refused to call the 
Assembly together for any expression of opinion, whereupon 

38 



circulars were sent to the different counties calling upon the 
people to voice their feelings. Meetings were held in every part 
of the State and resolutions passed asserting colonial rights. 

These events when reported in England deeply stirred 
Parliament. It must not be supposed that the colonies in 
this early struggle for their principles, standing firm for "no 
taxation without representation," were without friends 
among British statesmen. Edmund Burke warned the 
government, "Let the colonies always keep the idea of their 
several rights associated with your government and they will 
cling and grapple to you, and no force under heaven will be 
of power to tear them from their allegiance." Charles James 
Fox exclaimed, "If you persist in your right to tax the 
Americans, you will force them into open rebellion." "We 
are now in great difficulties," said Dowdeswell, "let us do 
justice before it is too late." While Lord Chatham declared 
in the House of Commons, "You must repeal these Acts and 
you will repeal them." But Lord North, stubborn minister 
of a more stubborn King, replied, "I am against repealing this 
last Act of Parliament, I will never think of repealing it until 
I see America prostrate at our feet." 

The strength and determination of the colonies was under- 
estimated. "With ten thousand regulars," declared the 
British Ministry, "we can march through the continent, 
bring Boston to its knees, and terrify the rest of America by 
the example." No wonder that, on hearing this, Patrick 
Henry exclaimed, "There is no longer any room for hope. 
We must fight." 

In September, 1774, the first Continental Congress met in 
Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia. A declaration of rights was 
drawn up and signed, denying to Parliament all power of 
taxation, and reserving to the Colonial Assemblies every form 
of legislation. The appeal to England was as dignified and 
reasonable as it was firm. "Permit us to be as free as your- 
selves and we will ever esteem a union with you to be our 
greatest glory and our happiness. We will be ever ready to 
contribute all in our power to the welfare of the Empire. We 
will consider your enemies our enemies, your interests our 
own. If you are determined that your ministers shall sport 

39 



wantonly with the rights of mankind, if neither the voice of 
justice, dictates of the law, principles of the constitution, 
nor the suggestions of humanity, shall restrain your hands 
from shedding blood in such an impious cause — we must then 
tell you that we will never submit to be hewers of wood or 
drawers of water for any ministry or nation in the world." 

It was further resolved that "no standing armies might 
be maintained without consent of the people. The sugar act, 
stamp act, and tea act, were each and all repudiated. On the 
eighteenth of October, 1774, the Articles of Confederation 
were signed — the beginning of American Union. 

At this time, John Penn was governor of Pennsylvania, a 
wise and sensible man who won the affections of the colonists. 
But holding his province from the crown, he naturally hesi- 
tated to endorse these revolutionary proceedings. Yet, he 
seems to have made no effort to oppose them. In January, 
1775, a provincial convention met at Philadelphia and con- 
tinued in session for six days. There were committees sent 
from each of the eight counties and the capital city had, 
besides, its own representation. The series of resolutions 
adopted show how serious the future seemed. Utmost 
economy of food was urged, increase of crops, building of 
more factories, and exclusive use of colonial manufactures as 
against imported goods. 

At five o'clock, the evening of April 24, 1775, a mounted 
messenger dashed into Philadelphia, bringing news of the 
battle of Lexington. Delegates to the second Continental 
Congress had just arrived in the city and a banquet in their 
honor was in progress, Robert Morris presiding. So great 
was the excitement upon arrival of the herald, that the ban- 
quet table was over-turned; bells tolled; men and boys 
paraded the streets all night. In the morning, a mass meet- 
ing was held in the State House Yard and the people pledged 
themselves for defense. Further delegates to the Congress 
coming from the south, rode in a stately cavalcade; those 
from New England and New York in like formal entry were 
met by enthusiastic shouts of welcome, the whole city turned 
out to do them honor. The war-cloud had burst upon a reso- 
lute and united people. 

40 



"Within ten days after receiving news of Bunker Hill, the 
first Pennsylvania regiment was officered and completed." 
It contained eight companies, most of them one hundred men 
each, and marched immediately, under command of Colonel 
William Thompson of Cumberland County, to the relief of 
Boston. Since these were the first troops mustered south of 
the Hudson and were said to be "remarkable for accuracy of 
aim," their arrival in Massachusetts created much stir and 
excitement. In January, 1776, these riflemen became "the 
first regiment of the Army of the United Colonies, com- 
manded by General George Washington," an honor greatly 
prized by Pennsylvania. 

Yet, although war was certain and George Washington 
had been chosen commander-in-chief of their forces, the 
Colonists had, at first, no thought of separation from the 
mother-country. In 1775, Thomas Jefferson said explicitly, 
"We have not raised armies with design of separating from 
Great Britain and establishing independent states. Neces- 
sity had not driven us yet to that desperate measure." But 
necessity was soon to force upon them that final step on the 
rough road to liberty. 

Meantime, a Committee of Safety had been formed at 
Philadelphia and held almost daily sessions. One of its first 
cares was to defend the Delaware river and bay. With this 
end in view, a State Navy was authorized and built. Its first 
ship, aptly named the "Experiment," was launched in July, 
1775. A second craft called the "Bull Dog" was soon com- 
pleted, giving to Pennsylvania another honor in thus beginning 
naval defense since three months before the continental 
congi-ess passed a law relative to a navy. The fleet built 
by Congressional order came also from Philadelphia ship- 
yards, was launched in December, 1775, was frozen up in the 
bay, and finally got into action the following February. 
They could not have been very formidable defenders, these 
first ships, viewed in contrast with our present dreadnaughts, 
they seem amusing toys. Their specified length was but a 
maximum of fifty feet in the keel; breadth, thirteen feet; 
depth, four and a half feet; estimated cost, $550 per boat. 
They were propelled by oars; each vessel carried "two 

41 



howitzers besides swivels, pikes and muskets." Twelve of 
these gunboats were ordered and speedily built. In addition, 
this navy included fire-rafts loaded with all sorts of in- 
flammable things— "tar and oil barrels, turpentine casks, 
pine wood covered with powdered resin." 

There were two floating batteries, named "Arnold" and 
"Putnam", a war ship, a fire-sloop, and six guard-boats. On 
August 1, 1776, the total number of ships in commission was 
reported as twenty-seven; the men in naval service, seven 
hundred and sixty-eight. Obstructions were sunk in the 
Delaware, buoys indicating the channel were removed, signal 
and alarm posts were stationed at short intervals. The 
Committee of Safety had done its best to deserve the name. 
Not until May, 1776, did the Httle fleet have opportunity to 
show its strength. In that month, two English warships 
came up the river and were promptly attacked. Firing con- 
tinued for two days, when the enemy was forced to withdraw 
to the shelter of the Capes, leaving victory for the Americans 
in their first naval battle. 

As the war assumed larger proportions, the question of declar- 
ing independence of Great Britain began to be discussed more 
seriously. To many the step appeared inevitable, and soon 
became the all-absorbing question for decision. The several 
colonies were consulted and asked to send delegates to Congress 
bearing their views on this vital matter. A Committee was 
named to frame the declaration of independence: Thomas 
Jefferson of Virginia, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, 
Roger Sherman of Connecticut, and Robert Livingston of New 
York. To Jefferson was given the task of writing the document. 
North Carolina was the first state to instruct her delegates to 
approve such declaration, even before it was framed. That was 
in April, 1776. On the seventh of June, Richard Henry Lee, 
of Virginia, offered the resolution, "That the United Colonies 
are, and of a right ought to be, free and independent states, 
and that a political connection between them and Great 
Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved." The resolution 
was promptly seconded by John Adams of Massachusetts. 
The Pennsylvania Assembly had not favored such action; 
her delegate, John Dickinson, was now the most formidable 

42 



opponent in the Congress to this declaration of independence. 
History proves him to have been a true patriot, but conserva- 
tive. He felt that colonial rights were compatible with 
loyalty to the King, and that a compromise could be effected. 

The first day of July, a vote on the resolution approved its 
adoption by all the colonies except Pennsylvania and Dela- 
ware; but on the historic Fourth of July, 1776, the opposing 
delegates had been replaced by others and John Dickinson 
was absent, so that every vote was in favor of independence. 
On July fifth, circulars conferring the glad news were sent 
to all the colonies; but not until the eighth, at noon, in the 
State House Yard was the Declaration read to the assembled 
people. Then the King's arms which had surmounted the 
doorway were formally taken down and burned; joy bells 
rang, bonfires blazed, a Democracy had been born. In the 
words of Bancroft, the historian, "The nation when it made 
the choice of its great anniversary, selected not the day of the 
resolution of independence, when it closed the past, but that 
of the declaration of the principles on which it opened its 
new career," A great step had been taken on the world-road 
to liberty. John Adams wrote "The greatest question was 
decided which ever was debated in America, and a greater 
perhaps never was nor will be decided among men." 

July fifteenth, delegates met in convention to frame a state 
constitution for Pennsylvania. This went into effect 
September twenty-eighth without popular vote. A general 
Assembly was to be elected annually; a president, chosen 
each year by the Assembly and Council, was given supreme 
executive power, while his Council of twelve persons was 
elected, in classes, for a term of three years. 

Meantime, victory seemed at first to be with the English, 
and Pennsylvania troops suffered severely. 

In November, General Howe with a large army advanced 
toward Philadelphia. The Assembly sent Governor Mifflin 
to stir up the people to the need of defence. Bounties were 
offered to volunteers, ten dollars to every man who would 
join General Washington on or before December 20th, seven 
dollars if before the 25th; five dollars if enlisting between the 
25th and 30th and signing for six weeks' service. 

43 



Owing to the English advance, Congress adjourned to 
Baltimore while General Washington sent Major General 
Israel Putnam to take charge of defence in Philadelphia. 

On Christmas night, at McConkey's Ferry, eight miles 
above Trenton, Washington led his troops across the Dela- 
ware. Story and picture of that venture are well known — 
the bitter cold, the perils from floating ice, the complete 
silence enjoined by the Commander. It was the simple 
exhortation, "I hope you will all fight like men," that nerved 
each soldier's heart and arm. Between three and four 
o'clock in the morning, the last barge landed ; then came a 
march through the snow to surprise Trenton. The force 
was divided, Washington leading a detachment to the north, 
General Ewing to the south, thus approaching the town from 
both sides. The priming of the guns was found to be wet and 
useless. "Well, then," said General Sullivan, "We must fight 
them with bayonets." With such commanders and such a 
spirit, it is not strange that the Americans won a complete 
victory. Their loss in the battle of Trenton totalled only 
four, two privates killed and two frozen to death. 

On January 2, 1777, was fought the battle of Princeton, in 
which the Pennsylvania troops distinguished themselves by 
special bravery. But by July, Howe was again threatening 
Philadelphia, causing another panic. Congress called for 
four thousand militia. Washington arrived with detach- 
ments of colonial troops, and at this time first met General 
Lafayette, recently come from France to aid the colonies, 
whose spirit he admired. A firm friendship was established 
between these two great men. Lafayette at once removed to 
Washington's camp and submitted to all its rigors and priva- 
tions. The threatened attack upon the Capital was diverted ; 
for Howe found in the Delaware such difficulties for his ships 
that he determined to approach his enemy by way of the 
Chesapeake. But a British army of eighteen thousand men 
disembarked near the river Elk and advanced, under Lord 
Cornwallis, to the battle of the Brandywine. Opposed to 
these professional soldiers, "selected from the best of the 
British empire and of the war-like race of Hesse, and perfectly 
equipped," Washington had fewer than twelve thousand, 

44 



including militia, volunteers and untrained recruits. Of this 
number, Pennsylvania furnished not more than twelve 
hundred. With such odds against them, it was not surprising 
that the Americans were defeated and driven back to Phila- 
delphia, with heavy loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners. 
The British, however, paid almost as heavily for their victory. 
On the twenty-sixth of September, 1777, Lord Cornwallis 
entered the city in triumph and was welcomed by the Tories, 
or Royalist party, which, at that time, numbered some promi- 
nent Quakers. On the approach of Cornwallis, the General 
Assembly, itself "rent by factions," had fled for safety to 
Lancaster. Howe invested Philadelphia and began to clear the 
river of its obstructions. General Washington attempted a 
surprise attack upon Germantown; but a dense fog confused 
the movements of his army and brought about failure. 

On October seventeenth, Burgojnie surrendered to Gates 
at Saratoga and the American revolt became a Revolution. 
Yet, the American army at the beginning of 1778 was a sorry 
lot of patriots. Numbering eleven thousand, nearly three 
thousand of them were unfit for duty, "being barefoot and 
otherwise naked," while Howe had still more than twelve 
thousand men in good condition. 

Washington took his ragged troops into winter quarters at 
Valley Forge. The sufferings of that bitter season need no 
description; but for the stout heart and earnest prayers of 
their leader, the discontented, even mutinous, soldiers could 
not have been held together until spring. But he held them 
and again passed a critical turning which led from defeat to 
victory. 

In January, 1778, occurred the "Battle of the Kegs," later 
celebrated in ballad form by Francis Hopkinson, author of 
"Hail, Columbia." The kegs, prepared at Burlington, New 
Jersey, by Pennsylvania sailors, were contrived with spring 
locks arranged to explode on contact with any hard sub- 
stance. These primitive mines, set afloat in large numbers, 
drifted among the British ships and aroused great alarm. 
All the enemy guns opened fire upon the floating kegs which 
performed at least the service of wasting British ammunition, 
though other damage seems to have been slight. 

45 



In February of that year, France openly declared herself 
in favor of the colonies and thereby greatly strengthened 
their cause. Howe was superseded, in May, by Sir Henry 
Clinton as commander-in-chief of the British forces. In 
honor of General Howe, a farewell entertainment was given 
at the country home of Mr. Wharton, near Philadelphia. 
This was called the Mischianza and was a combination of 
parade, regatta, banquet and ball. A water pageant on the 
Delaware showed brilliant barges, galleys, and smaller boats, 
filled with gaily dressed people. A procession of knights and 
ladies attired in satins and plumed hats represented the 
fantastic orders of the "Blended Rose" and the "Burning 
Mountain." There was a tournament modeled after those 
of the Middle Ages, then a grand supper followed by dancing. 
The participants were British officers and their Tory friends. 
A touch of pathetic interest is added to this revel by the 
record of Major Andr^ as one of the knights. He was indeed 
a principal factor in the pageant, painting scenery, designing 
costumes, and making sketches of the figures. Soon to be the 
victim of Arnold's treason, he felt no shadow of his approaching 
fate. For us, this gayety calls up a sombre contrast to our 
American soldiers then starving at Valley Forge. 

Six days after the Mischianza, the scene had changed. An 
order came for the evacuation of Philadelphia, accomplished 
the eighteenth of June. English commissioners had arrived 
to negotiate peace; but the knowledge that France was 
supporting the colonies, and had bound herself by treaty to 
their aid, nerved them to refusal of any modified terms. It 
is said that General Joseph Reed, delegate to Congress, and 
later President of Council, was offered a bribe by these 
commissioners — £10,000 with "the best office in the colonies," 
in return for his support of British terms. He replied, "I 
am not worth purchasing, but such as I am, the King of 
Great Britain is not rich enough to do it." 

Congress stood firm, the British army withdrew, Conti- 
nental troops returned. On the twenty-eighth of June, 1778, 
General Washington won the battle of Monmouth, and his 
victorious army re-occupied Philadelphia. Benedict Arnold 
was ordered to take charge of the city and preserve order. 

46 



On July 2, 1778, Congress met again in Philadelphia to frame 
Articles of Confederation. Delegates from eight of the thirteen 
states promptly signed these articles and, on the tenth of July, 
a circular was sent to the five other states, urging similar action. 
By June of the following year, all but Maryland had consented, 
that state joining the others as late as March, 1781. 

But the Confederation was only a partnership of independent 
republics, there was as yet no real union. The faults of the 
Confederation were many and the states were rent by factions 
and jealousies. Several attempts to improve and strengthen 
federal power failed of success until, in 1780, Alexander 
Hamilton "took the field as a maker of a National Consti- 
tution." By his advice authority was largely centralized and 
the Confederation, in spite of faults, held the new nation 
together until its real union— the Constitution of 1787. 

Meantime, in Pennsylvania, things were far from favorable. 
Many Indians had joined the British side and were at their 
old game of massacre and pillage. July, 1778, saw a raid in 
the Wyoming Valley, and cruel slaughter of the people who 
had taken refuge in the feeble forts. The revengeful Senecas, 
under British flag and leader, overspread the surrounding 
territory and destroyed the labor of years. Beside the 
murder of two hundred and twenty-five men and the driving 
into exile scores of terrified women and children, the British 
leader boasted that his savage allies had burned "a thousand 
houses and every mill." 

Added to Enghsh and Indian foes, Tories and traitors 
were found among the "best citizens" of Philadelphia. The 
Assembly tried to punish those who had been false to their 
allegiance, but party quarrels weakened the strength of law 
and only two flagrant traitors were convicted and hanged. 
The long-dependable paper money was at last frightfully 
depreciated, even three thousand per cent, below face value. 
Necessities of Hfe, as well as its luxuries, were well-nigh 
unattainable. There was almost no salt, tea, coffee, choco- 
late, or sugar. Spinning was done at home, and all garments 
were home-made; yet, even so, there was great scarcity of 
clothing. Silk reached a price of one hundred dollars a yard. 
Hay was sold by the pound; salt was worth from seventy-five 

47 



to a hundred dollars per bushel. American prisoners, con- 
fined during the British occupation of Philadelphia in the 
State House and the Walnut Street prison, were cruelly- 
neglected, even tortured ; numbers died from hunger and cold. 

Many reasons, therefore, combined for the order in Con- 
gress that the thirtieth of December, 1778, should be observed 
as a day of fasting and prayer. 

Yet there were ardent patriots in civil life as well as among 
the statesmen and soldiers. When Washington applied to 
Robert Morris, wealthy merchant and signer of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, for money desperately needed to pay 
the starving soldiers, there was response deserving of record. 
On New Year morning, 1777, Morris went, before dawn, from 
door to door among his Philadelphia neighbors collecting the 
desired amount of $50,000 "in hard money." So ready were 
the people with this self-sacrifice that, by sunrise, the mission 
had been accomplished; the gift, forwarded to headquarters 
saved the army from disorganization. 

Tradition speaks also of Lydia Darragh who, placing her 
ear to a crack in the upper flooring, overheard British officers 
discussing their plans. This was at the time when Phila- 
delphia was occupied by Cornwallis and Howe. The brave 
woman managed to make her way through the line of sentries, 
and, after incredible fatigue, to reach American headquarters 
and put Washington on his guard. The house of Betsey Ross 
is still preserved, where, according to another tradition, the 
first American flag was made, under Washington's direction. 

Philadelphia had grown into a town of some size at this 
epoch— about 25,000 people. It is recorded that when its 
inhabitants fled before British occupation, five hundred and 
ninety dwellings and twenty-four stores were abandoned. 
There was great destruction of property in city and in coun- 
try, for both armies, British and Continental, indulged in 
forage and pillaging usual to war. John Adams, coming to 
the First Continental Congress, had written home enthu- 
siastic letters praising "the happy, the peaceful, the elegant, 
the hospitable, the poUte, city of Philadelphia." Fortunately 
for such reputation, the enemy occupation was brief, and the 
storm center of war soon moved away from Pennsylvania. 

48 



Authority re-asserted itself. Arnold was ordered before 
court-martial for "illegal and oppressive conduct while in 
command of the military at Philadelphia." He fled to 
Camp Raritan whence he addressed a "Letter to the Public," 
attempting to justify his acts. For months he evaded trial 
but was finally court-martialled in January, 1780, and con- 
victed merely of "using public wagons for his own benefit," 
but acquitted of any "corrupt intent." The sentence was 
only a reprimand from his Commander-in-chief, but Arnold 
never forgave the investigation. Fancied injustice rankled 
in his mind and doubtless led to his treasonable attempt to 
betray West Point to the British, resulting in his own ever- 
lasting disgrace, and in the execution of brave Major Andr^. 
When, in September, 1780, news of this treason reached 
Philadelphia, Arnold's estate was promptly confiscated, his 
body burned in effigy, and his wife ordered to leave the state 
within fourteen days. Many persons, including Tories and 
Quakers, were tried for treason though only two Quakers were 
put to death. 

Money difficulties increased and the General Assembly 
tried to remedy them by stopping the issue of paper currency 
and adopting a series of private loans. This gave temporary 
relief but was not entirely successful. 

To punish Indian atrocities, Washington ordered General 
Sullivan to carry the war into the country of the Six Nations. 
Near Newtown, on the Chemung river, thirteen thousand 
Indians, led by Brant and aided by two hundred and fifty 
Tories, met Colonel John Butler with a company of rangers 
and regulars. The Indians fled, forty of their towns were 
destroyed and the whole Genesee County was swept clean of 
hostile tribes. 

Yet, even after this, raids continued and neither New York 
nor Pennsylvania was wholly free from fear of massacre until, 
at the end of the century, civilization had crowded out the 
savages. 

In 1780, Congress passed an act for the gradual abolition of 
slavery in Pennsylvania. In spite of foes without and 
within, both Commonwealth and Union were advancing. 
But again a British Army threatened. Sir Henry Clinton 

49 



entered New Jersey and fears arose that there might be trea- 
sonable communications with him. Stringent laws were 
passed against "strangers" in the State. Search was made 
for concealed weapons, and horses belonging to Tories were 
seized by the government. 

On the night of January first, 1781, a part of the "Pennsyl- 
vania Line," many of them raw Irish troops, mutinied at 
Morristown, New Jersey. Under lead of their non-com- 
missioned officers, they marched to Princeton, bringing with 
them six guns. For a year they had received no pay, they 
were without sufficient clothes and food, they had been com- 
pelled to serve beyond the time for which they had enlisted. 
These privations, they declared, were no longer to be endured. 
Sir Henry Clinton sent spies to offer bribes for desertion to 
the British side and the fact that two of these enemy mes- 
sengers were seized and hanged proves that the revolt was one 
against conditions rather than against their cause. 

Joseph Reed, president of the Pennsylvania Council, went 
to reason with the mutineers. He discharged those who 
claimed that their time was up, quickly gathered, from the 
state, money and clothing for the remaining troops, and 
quelled the revolt. There were signs of similar rebellion on the 
part of other regiments, but Washington held them to duty. 
Lafayette, wi-iting to his wife of these events exclaimed, 
"Human patience has its limits! No European army would 
suffer the tenth part of what the American troops suffer." 

In February, 1781, the Pennsylvania regiments were 
ordered to join General Wayne at York and thence go south 
to combine with Geneial Green's army for the investment of 
Yorktown, Virginia. Here, on the nineteenth of October, 
1781, Lord Cornwallis capitulated and the American Revolu- 
tion was finally won. When Congress received, from General 
Washington, news of the capitulation, the whole body, fol- 
lowed by all the populace, adjourned in procession to the 
Dutch Lutheran Church to return thanks to God. At night 
there was a grand illumination in the Philadelphia streets 
and the people were wild with joy. Congress voted the 
thanks of the nation with honors to Washington, the allied 
French generals, and all officers of the American Army. 

50 



First word of Cornwallis' surrender reached England on 
November 25. "It is all over," said Lord North. Parlia- 
ment voted to give up "all further attempts to reduce the 
revolted colonies," while the city of London sent to the King 
a petition praying that he "put an end to this unnatural and 
unfortunate war." But the King stubbornly refused his 
consent; the utmost that, after many delays, could be 
extorted from him, was an agreement not to veto any vote 
for the independence of the colonies. It was not until 
November thirtieth, 1782 — a year after the surrender of 
Cornwallis — that commissioners from England and America 
signed at Paris the treaty of peace. Benjamin Franklin, 
to whose persistence its success was largely due, was among 
the commissioners, and on that triumphant day he exclaimed, 
"Could I have hoped, at such an age, to have enjoyed so 
great happiness!" 

The following spring the news had reached America and 
formal ratification of the treaty confirmed the birth of a new 
nation. It is one of the pleasant coincidences of history that 
the first English ship to fly the American flag sailed up the 
Thames river, bearing the name "William Penn." 

Colonial history ends with the birth of the State. In 
May, 1787, a convention at Philadelphia framed the Federal 
Constitution and established the New Republic on a firm 
foundation. 

To Pennsylvania, although she had been slow to declare 
independence, belongs the honor of being one of the first to 
ratify the Constitution and to take her proud place as 
Keystone in the Arch of triumphant Democracy. 



61 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



014 209 144 6 ^ 



